1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wire cover for covering wires drawn out from a housing, to a connector provided with a wire cover and to a fastening method.
A known wire cover is identified by the numeral 1 in FIG. 8 and also is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-6084. The wire cover 1 is mounted on a housing 2 and covers wires W that extend from terminal fittings in the housing 2. The wire cover 1 has a wire draw-out opening 3 at one side for accommodating the wires W that are drawn to the outside, and a U-shaped wire fixing portion 4 projects from an edge of the wire draw-out opening 3. The wires W are fixed to the wire fixing portion 4 by a bundling band 5 that is wrapped around both the wires W and the wire fixing portion 4.
The wires W may be held loosely between the wire fixing portion 4 and the bundling band 5 if the number of the wires to be bundled is small or the outer diameter of the wires W is small in comparison with the size of the wire fixing portion 4.
In view of the above, an object of the invention is to fix wires firmly with a bundling band, even if the number of wires is small.
The invention is directed to a wire cover that is mountable on a housing. The housing accommodates a plurality of terminal fittings and each terminal fitting is connected with the end of a wire. The wire cover substantially covers portions of the wires drawn out from the housing. The wire cover comprises a wire fixing portion that extends from an edge of a wire draw-out opening through which the wires are drawn out. A bundling band is employed to the wires to fasten the wires to the wire fixing portion. The wire fixing portion comprises at least one bundling hole through which the bundling band is introduced to make a mounting path of the bundling band selectable from a plurality of mounting paths. Accordingly, the wires can be fixed firmly to the wire fixing portion by suitably selecting the mounting path of the bundling band based on the number of the wires to be fixed and the outer diameters thereof.
The wire fixing portion preferably extends substantially continuously from an edge of the wire draw-out opening and preferably has a substantially U-shaped cross section.
A plurality of bundling holes preferably are arranged at an angle to an extending direction of the wires near the wire draw-out opening.
The plurality of bundling holes increases the number of selectable mounting paths of the bundling band, and a suitable mounting path can be selected based on the number of wires to be fixed and other factors.
The wire draw-out opening preferably is arranged to align the wires at an angle to a projecting direction of the wires from the housing.
The wire fixing portion preferably comprises two lateral walls that are interconnected by a connecting wall. The bundling holes preferably are provided in a border between the lateral walls and the connecting portion. The wire fixing portion also may comprise one or more stopper projections for preventing the bundling band from slipping off.
The invention also is directed to a connector with a housing that accommodates a plurality of terminal fittings. The terminal fittings are connected with ends of wires, and the above-described wire cover is mountable to the housing for substantially covering portions of the wires drawn out from the housing.
The invention further is directed to a method for fastening a plurality of wires to a wire cover. The wire cover is mountable on a housing that accommodates a plurality of terminal fittings, each of which is connected with the end of a wire. Thus the wire cover substantially covers portions of the wires drawn out from the housing. The method comprises the steps of drawing out the plurality of wires from a draw-out opening of the cover, selecting a mounting path of the bundling band from a plurality of mounting paths, and arranging the bundling band on the selected mounting path to fix the wires to a wire fixing portion that extends from an edge of the wire draw-out opening. At least one mounting path is defined by at least one bundling hole of the wire fixing portion.
The selecting step selection preferably is made based on the number of the wires to be fixed and/or the outer diameters thereof.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.